404 Error 2: File Not Found
by Missingno. Master
Summary: Not long after the events of 404 Error, Red has gone missing in the Hojot region. His best hopes for finding out what happened to him? His girlfriend Maggie; an overeager new trainer from the Johto region; and a sarcastic and rude loudmouth rookie trainer from the Hojot region. What happened to Red? Will this odd trio locate him? Why am I asking YOU all these questions?
1. Crisis In Tanko

In a relatively small yet spacious laboratory in Talpel Town, a middle-aged, pudgy, balding man was pacing around nervously. Occasionally, he idly kicked aside some clutter, such as crumpled up papers or empty Poké Balls.

"Come on," he muttered. "Where is she..."

Just then, he heard the door open, and looked up to see a teenager with fiery orange hair walk in. She was wearing a yellow tank-top and blazing red shorts, all of which gave her a distinctly fiery appearance, though the look on her face was one of worry and concern.

"You wanted to see me, Professor Redwood?" asked the teenager.

The professor nodded. "That I did, Maggie," he replied. "As you may or may not know, I suggested to Red that he go and visit an old colleague of mine, one who might be able to tell him more about that strange egg he found."

Maggie nodded, having indeed known this.

"Well, that was two weeks ago. Red left almost immediately for the Hojot region in the west, and not long afterward I got a call from Professor Conifer confirming that he arrived, but he seems to have vanished after that. Nobody knows where he went after he left the lab. All Professor Conifer knows is that he went out the door after Red to give him something he had left behind, and Red was nowhere to be seen."

"That's horrible!" Maggie gasped. "What can we do, Professor?"

"I'm getting to that," Redwood answered. "I'd like you to travel to the Hojot region and search for Red. I would've asked Orange and Violet to go, except Orange is busy handling the Ivadirin Gym in Red's absence, and Violet seems somewhat reluctant to travel without him."

"I'll do it," nodded Maggie. "Which way do I go?"

"When you hit Route -23, there's a winding mountain trail you can take," explained Professor Redwood. "Just head south instead of north. Follow the path and you'll end up in Krab Wen Town. You should locate Professor Conifer's laboratory, and start from there."

Maggie nodded her understanding of this. Once she left the laboratory, she removed a small sphere from her belt. This sphere was half red and half white, the two halves separated by a thin black line, on which there was a single white button- a Poké Ball. Maggie pressed the button, and the ball doubled in size, growing to roughly the size of a baseball in her hand. Once this happened, she tossed the ball up, and it split open along the black line. A mass of glowing yellow energy flowed forth from the ball, forming itself into an equine shape on the ground. At that point, the glowing faded, and it was revealed that the creature that the ball had contained was a cream-colored horse-like Pokémon. Its head, tail, and parts of its legs all seemed to be on fire. Unperturbed by these flames, Maggie climbed up onto the back of this creature.

"OK, Rapidash," she stated. "Let's ride!"

Rapidash neighed in response before taking off, galloping across the strange landscape, which seemed to consist of rocks, grass, pools of water, and (oddly enough) numbers in equal measure. They headed north first, speeding across Route -1. Many times, the wild Rattata had to scatter to avoid being trampled.

Finally, Maggie and Rapidash arrived in Ivadirin City. On Maggie's request, the Fire Horse Pokémon slowed down to a walk as they approached a massive structure which looked to be made chiefly out of roofing tiles. The sign attached to the building claimed it to be the Ivadirin City Pokémon Gym. Outside the doors, there stood a pair of people who looked rather happy to see Maggie. One of them was a boy with messy orange hair the same color as Maggie's, and the other was a girl with long black hair and a purple shirt.

"Hi, Orange," smiled Maggie. "Hi, Violet."

"Hey, Maggie," grinned Orange, the boy. "Good to see you again."

"Any news about Red?" asked Violet.

"No," sighed Maggie. "Look, Professor Redwood sent me to the Hojot region to search for him. Violet, I'd like you to take over Bincanar Gym in my absence, OK?"

Violet nodded. "Of course. Just make sure you find him, OK?"

"Will do," promised Maggie.

"Yeah, you better find him, Maggie," said Orange, who attempted a brave smile despite his unusually grim voice. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Maggie replied. "OK, Rapidash," she added. "Let's move."

Rapidash gave a small neigh in response before taking off once more. Maggie waved goodbye to Violet and Orange before focusing on where Rapidash was going.

They came to Route -22, which ordinarily would take nearly half an entire day for a human to traverse. However, on Rapidashback, going at high speeds, it took a mere forty-five minutes. Remembering what Professor Redwood had said, Maggie ordered Rapidash to turn left instead of right when they reached the end of the route, and they immediately found themselves on a narrow, twisting, rocky path.

Rapidash was forced to slow down as they traveled this harrowing path. It overlooked tall cliffs for the most part, and at times they were forced to go down steep slopes, and then up other steep slopes. At various points on the terrain (which consisted of numbers and grass, but primarily rocks), there were posted wooden signs, all of which indicated that Maggie was on the right path.

Before long, Route -26 turned to Route -27, or so the signs claimed. The trail got less mountainous and more grassy (though still with rocks and numbers thrown in here and there), and they found themselves going along the coast of the sea.

"OK, I think we should be nearly there, Rapidash," Maggie stated as they passed the entrance to a cave, from which the echoing roaring of a waterfall could be heard. "Just past Kojot Falls, if memory serves- Rapidash, stop!" she exclaimed suddenly, as a young boy could be seen stumbling out of a nearby stone arch. He was wearing a yellow and black baseball cap backwards- the hat gave off the impression of an Ultra Ball, and some of his black hair could be seen protruding from beneath it. He was also wearing a red and white sweatshirt, along with a pair of yellow and black shorts. A silver-colored backpack was on his back.

Rapidash screeched to a halt as the youth cried out in fear. Once the Fire Horse came to a stop, however, he looked decidedly less frightened. "Hey, what the-" he stated as he looked around. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Well, you're on Route -27," Maggie stated. "Not far from the Hojot region."

"Route what, not far from the who what now?" responded the youth. "I don't get it! I just started as a trainer in Johto, I try to take a little trip to Kanto, I go through this weird stone arch, and suddenly I'm here." As he said this, he removed a small red device from his pocket- a Pokédex- and pointed it at Maggie's ride.

"Rapidash, the Fire Horse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Ponyta," the machine droned. "At full gallop, its four hooves barely touch the ground because it moves so incredibly fast."

"You mean you've never heard of the Tanko or Hojot regions?" asked Maggie. As the boy shook his head, the Gym Leader looked a little confused. "Huh. I guess the portals don't really exist in Johto and Hojot..." At this, she proceeded to explain to the boy all about Tanko and Kanto, and how they seemed to be alternate dimensions between which it recently became possible to freely travel.

"...Whoa," the boy said once Maggie finished her story. "That's a lot to take in... but I guess there's no other way to explain it, is there?"

"I highly doubt it," smiled Maggie. "My name's Maggie McPixel. What's yours?"

"Ethan. Ethan Golde," replied the boy. "I was gonna compete in the Johto league, but I had wanted first to go and visit Professor Oak, get me some advice, you know? I mean, nothing against Professor Elm, but he himself told me that Professor Oak knew way more than he did."

"Well, as long as you're in this dimension, I hear the Hojot region has its own Pokémon League," Maggie suggested. "I'm headed to Hojot myself to look for a missing person, maybe we could travel together. I'll likely be going all over the place to look for him anyway, and I like the idea of helping out a new trainer."

"Hey, now you're talking!" grinned Ethan. "I like that idea! As long as there's Gym Leaders to battle, badges to collect, and a Pokémon League competition to enter, I'm in! I may never have heard of this place before, but there's no way a real Trainer would let something like that stand in my way!"

Maggie giggled. "You remind me of my boyfriend," she said, though there was a look of definite sadness in her eyes as she thought of Red, wondering where he was.

"Well, if Hojot is laid out like Johto is, I think I know how to get there," stated Ethan. With that, he ran off in the direction in which Maggie had been heading in any case. With a quick order to Rapidash, Maggie went off after him.

The scenery changed. No longer was the landscape strewn with random chunks of grass, rock, and numbers, but now, there was nothing but a grassy plain. Green for the most part, though some patches of grass were white, and others were bright pink. The trees also stopped sporting numbers and roofing tiles, and instead seemed to grow leaves exclusively, though many parts of the trees were a lovely shade of blue. Odd colors aside, it reminded Maggie of the Kanto region, where she had visited once with Red.

Eventually, they saw buildings. Several houses, plus one larger structure. To Maggie's mild surprise, these houses were not lined with chunks of rock, or numbers, or anything like that, but instead aluminum siding of multiple colors.

"Whoa," Ethan remarked as they arrived. He examined a nearby sign, which served to welcome them to Krab Wen Town. "It's like New Bark Town, but... the colors are weird, you know?"

"I think so," Maggie replied.

"Hey," Ethan said suddenly upon noticing the sign. "'Krab Wen Town'? Krab Wen- that's New Bark spelled backwards!"

"Wow," said Maggie. "What are the odds of that?" At that point, she climbed off of Rapidash's back. "Thanks, Rapidash," she added as she held out the Poké Ball she had sent it out of. "Take a nice, long rest," she said. At these words, a beam of transparent red energy flew forward from the button. As it struck Rapidash, it converted the Fire Horse Pokémon into that same transparent red energy and sucked it back into the ball. "Anyway," she stated, "I was told to go and find Professor Conifer's lab, so if you're still up for traveling with me, we should probably get going."

"I guess so," nodded Ethan. "I got a hunch I know where the lab might be, anyway, given that this place looks very similar to New Bark Town thus far. Follow me." With that, Ethan ran off in one direction. Maggie ran after him, dearly hoping that this Professor Conifer would help her to find Red.


	2. Shades Of Grey

With Maggie following him, Ethan was running across Krab Wen Town. Sure enough, he grinned as the largest building they've seen in town thus far came into view. Like the other buildings, it was covered with aluminum siding, albeit of a multicolored nature. Mostly blue and pink, though with some white and green thrown in as well.

"This is it!" Ethan grinned as he turned his head back to look at Maggie. "I had a feeling it was somewhere around here- OOF!"

For at that moment, due to momentarily not looking where he was going, Ethan had collided rather painfully with someone else. As he shakily climbed to his feet, he turned to offer his hand to the other person, who he could now see was a girl around his age, with black hair that went down past her shoulders, dressed in a dark grey t-shirt and matching shorts. A small red backpack was slung over one of her shoulders, and she stood up on her own instead of taking Ethan's hand.

"Sorry about that," Ethan said sheepishly.

The girl scowled. "Yeah, right," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know those little round things poking out of your head? They're called eyes. Use 'em."

"Hey, that was uncalled for," Maggie frowned as she caught up to them.

"Yeah," nodded Ethan. "You could've been watching where you were going too, you know. And I _said_ I was sorry."

"I heard you the first time, and it'll do you as much good now as it did then," snapped the girl. "Where the hell were you going in such a hurry, anyway?"

"That's Professor Conifer's lab up ahead, isn't it?" asked Ethan.

"Well, _duh_!" said the girl. "Of _course_ that's Professor Conifer's lab! What did you think it was, a dentist's office?"

"Hey, give me a break, I'm new around here!" Ethan exclaimed. "Excuse me for not knowing my way around town!"

"Oh, don't tell me you're headed there too," sighed the girl. "That's all I need, is some stupid moron hanging around while I pick my first Pokémon."

"Oh, you're starting your journey today?" asked Maggie, sounding rather interested.

"Yeah, and what's it to you?" the girl replied.

"Well, I've just started my journey myself," Ethan replied. "I'm gonna be traveling the Hojot region and winning Gym badges."

"Pffft," snorted the girl. "You? A Trainer? You don't look like you got the brains to tell a Graveler from a Grimer, let alone train either of them."

"Yeah, well, I don't think I can see any Pokémon warming up to you," Ethan shot back. "Who do you think you are, anyway, coming up to me and throwing insults in my face?"

"The name's Grey. Grey Spearow," said the girl. "Remember it now, because I won't be telling you again."

"Whatever," said Ethan. "I'm Ethan. Ethan Golde. This is Maggie McPixel."

"And I couldn't give a flying-"

"OK, stop it!" exclaimed Maggie suddenly. This caught both Grey and Ethan's attention, and they turned to look at her. "It's obvious we're all headed for the same location right now, so could we please try to be civil to each other?"

Ethan and Grey said nothing at this. They merely glared at each other once more before the trio continued on. Within minutes, they found themselves outside the building Ethan had been running towards. True to his suspicions, a pale yellow sign outside the door read "Conifer Pokémon Research Lab" in black lettering.

Ethan knocked on the green and pink door, and almost immediately, a voice sounded from inside. "Come in!" Obligingly, Ethan made to open the door, though Grey shoved past him and went in first. Scowling at this, Ethan followed her in, followed by Maggie.

The interior looked primarily like Professor Redwood's lab, only slightly smaller and a lot more cluttered. Grey led the way to the back of the room, carelessly kicking aside any clutter in her way as she went. At the back of the room, there stood a relatively young man- older than any of them, though he couldn't have been much older than thirty, Maggie was guessing. He had short brown hair, and looked rather fit- she could just barely notice some definite muscle through his lab coat.

"Hello!" the man greeted them. "Allow me to introduce myself- I am Professor Conifer. You, I'm guessing, must be Maggie, correct?" he said, addressing Maggie, who nodded. "Yes. Yes. Professor Redwood called me earlier to tell me you would be on your way-"

"Hey," interrupted Grey. "Now that that's out of the way, how about a Pokémon here?"

"Now, it's not polite to interrupt," Professor Conifer frowned as he turned his attention to Grey. "Having said that, I _have_ been expecting you, so we may as well do this. Maggie, would it be OK if I help Grey here choose her first Pokémon?"

"Sure," smiled Maggie.

"Damn straight, it's OK," grinned Grey. Ignoring this, Professor Conifer escorted the trio over to a nearby table, on which rested three Poké Balls.

"All right," the professor stated as he took a Poké Ball. "First off, the Grass-type starter... Exeggcute!" He threw the ball up as he said the last word, and in a flash of light, a cluster of a half-dozen eggs materialized. Each egg sported a face, and one of them was cracked, with a yellow yolk-like substance showing through.

"Exeggcute," said all six eggs simultaneously.

"Pfft," scoffed Grey. "Next."

"Very well," sighed Professor Conifer as he threw another one of the Poké Balls. "Now for the Fire-type starter... Magby!"

In a flash of light, a small red bipedal Pokémon materialized. It sported small, silver claws on its hands and feet, and a thin wisp of smoke rose from its mouth. "Magby!" it exclaimed.

"Eeeeeeeee!" squealed Maggie, unable to contain herself. "It's so cuuuuuute!" she breathed as she knelt down to get a closer look at the Magby, who looked rather pleased with the attention.

"Next," yawned Grey.

"Well, here's the last one," replied Professor Conifer as he threw the final Poké Ball. "The Water-type starter... Tentacool!" he exclaimed as the ball burst open, unleashing a blue and red aquatic creature. It stood on a pair of brown tentacles, using them as makeshift legs.

"Tentacoool," said the Water/Poison-type in a somewhat nasally tone.

"Say," Grey said, regarding the Tentacool with interest. "Now that's more like it," she stated as she picked up the Jellyfish Pokémon and held it in her hands, examining it. "Yeah," she said, nodding. "Yeah, I think my choice is pretty clear here. I'll take Tentacool."

"Cool! Tentacool!" cheered Tentacool as Professor Conifer handed Tentacool's Poké Ball to Grey.

"You know, in Johto, I was given a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile-" began Ethan.

"Hey, Ethan, hold up a sec," Grey interrupted, shushing him. "You hear that?" Ethan heard nothing, so he shook his head. "You know what that is?" asked Grey. "That's the sound of me not caring."

"And here are some empty Poké Balls, and your Pokédex," stated Professor Conifer as he handed five more Poké Balls to Grey, plus a small red box, not unlike the one Ethan had. "Now then," he added as he turned to face Ethan, who stopped scowling at Grey, "What about you, young man? Are you here for a Pokémon?"

"Actually, I already have one," Ethan replied as he held up a Poké Ball. "I got this Cyndaquil from Professor Elm in the Johto-"

"The Johto region?" interrupted Professor Conifer with great interest. "Oh, please excuse me," he added as he realized that he had interrupted. "Well, at the very least, I ought to give you a new Pokédex," he stated as he produced another Pokédex from a nearby shelf and handed it to Ethan. "Now then, Maggie," he said. "As I told Professor Redwood, I have no clue as to Red's whereabouts. He seems to have simply vanished when he left my lab two weeks ago. He could be more or less anywhere, so you would do well to search the Hojot region in its entirety. Also, he seemed to have accidentally left this behind," he added as he reached over to another shelf, from which he carefully extracted a round, white object with triangular red and blue markings- an Egg.

"Yeah, that's the Egg he found!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Well, I would like you to take it with you when you look for him," said Professor Conifer as he placed it in Maggie's arms. "My research indicates that it is the Egg of a Pokémon. Exactly what species it contains isn't certain at the moment, but lately, we've been discovering all manner of new Pokémon left and right lately. Anyway, I believe that the Egg will only hatch if it is kept with other Pokémon and cared for by a Trainer. Unfortunately, my work keeps me far too busy to give that kind of attention to the Egg, but I'm hoping you'll be up to the task?"

"I don't see why not," smiled Maggie as she gently cradled the Egg in her arms.

Meanwhile, once Ethan and Grey were done getting a feel for their new Pokédexes, Grey walked over to Ethan. "Alright, loser," she said. "You. Me. Battle. Now."

For once, Ethan found himself unperturbed by Grey's rudeness- he wasn't one to turn down a battle challenge. "You're on!" he replied.

"Uh- please, not in here!" Professor Conifer exclaimed hastily. "Could you maybe take it outside?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," grumbled Grey as she rolled her eyes. "Whatever.

"OK, this will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle between Ethan Golde of New Bark Town, and Grey Spearow of Krab Wen Town," announced Maggie once they were outside, where there was plenty of room. A large patch of brown, white, and pink dirt served as the battlefield. Ethan and Grey stood at either end of the arena while Maggie stood on the sides to act as the referee, having placed the Egg in her backpack beforehand. Watching from the doorway of his laboratory was Professor Conifer. "Begin!" she said.

"Cyndaquil! Let's go!" Ethan exclaimed as he threw a Poké Ball. In a flash of light, there appeared a small rodent-like Pokémon. Half its fur was cream-colored, the other half was a dark green-blue.

"Quiiiiiil!" exclaimed the Pokémon. As it cried out, its back ignited, a roaring fire now burning from several red spots on its back. As Maggie tried to keep herself from squealing how cute she thought Cyndaquil was, Grey held out her Pokédex.

"Cyndaquil, the Mouse Pokémon," droned the device. "A timid Pokémon that curls itself up into a ball. It shoots flames from its back for protection."

"All right, let's destroy that thing!" yelled Grey as she threw a Poké Ball. "Tentacool! Go!"

In a flash of light, Grey's Tentacool materialized, standing somewhat unsteadily on its two tentacles. "Tentacool," it said. Now it was Ethan's turn to hold out his new Pokédex.

"Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokémon," it said. "It drifts aimlessly in waves. Very difficult to see in water, it may not be noticed until it stings."

Ethan made the first move. "Cyndaquil! Tackle it!" he ordered.

"Tentacool, Poison Sting!" commanded Grey.

"Cooool!" exclaimed Tentacool as numerous glowing purple needles were fired from its body. Cyndaquil charged forward, grunting as it took the Poison move head on, but didn't stop. It slammed into Tentacool, sending the Water/Poison-type crashing to the ground. Tentacool, however, got back up with relative ease.

"Don't take that lying down!" scowled Grey. "Use Supersonic!"

"Leer attack!" ordered Ethan.

"Cynda!" exclaimed Cyndaquil as it suddenly glared at Tentacool, its slit-like eyes starting to glow. Tentacool started shaking in response to this, and did not fire the Supersonic as ordered.

"Cyndaquil! Tackle attack!" grinned Ethan.

"Tentacool, Constrict attack-" began Grey, but before she could even finish speaking, Cyndaquil had rammed into Tentacool once more, and this time, the Jellyfish Pokémon made no effort to move.

"Tentacool is unable to battle!" declared Maggie. "Ethan and Cyndaquil are the winners!"

"Damn it!" exclaimed Grey as she returned Tentacool to its Poké Ball. "You got lucky, you know that, right?" she snapped at Ethan. "If Tentacool had any Water moves to work with yet, you'd have lost!"

Ethan was about to respond to this, when a cry of "Magby mag!" sounded from behind Maggie. She turned around in surprise to see the same Magby from before standing there, looking up at her.

"Heh," chuckled Professor Conifer as he witnessed this. "Well, well, Maggie. It seems Magby here's taken a liking to you."

"Ooh, it certainly looks that way," smiled Maggie as she scooped up the Magby in her arms. "And you're a cute little fella, too, aren't you?" she cooed, much to the Magby's delight.

"Well, it's clear to me that Magby's chosen its trainer," Professor Conifer smiled as he held a Poké Ball out to Maggie. "Why don't you take this Magby? It's obvious it'll be much happier traveling with you than being cooped up in the lab all the time."

"Really?" Maggie asked, a smile on her face. "Oh, yes, I'd love to! Magby, what do you think? You wanna come with me?"

"Mag-BY!" replied Magby, nodding emphatically.

"I'm thinking that's a yes," grinned Ethan.

"Gee, you think?" said Grey sarcastically.

"Well, that settles it," Maggie said. "Welcome to the team, Magby."

Once Magby, Tentacool, and Cyndaquil had been returned to their Poké Balls, Ethan and Maggie headed out in the direction in which Professor Conifer pointed them- west, towards the entrance to Route -29. As they saw a wooden sign welcoming them to Route -29, they heard footsteps behind them.

"What, you thought you'd be rid of me that easily?" demanded Grey. "Get real."

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked Ethan disdainfully. "Haven't you inflicted your presence on us long enough?"

"Hardly," snapped Grey, with the faintest trace of a sneer. "It's obvious the two of you are total noobs when it comes to the Hojot region. Clearly, you both need someone who knows her way around Hojot. Someone who actually knows all the names of the cities and towns Hojot has to offer. Someone stunningly beautiful, like me."

"Like you," repeated Ethan skeptically. "Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. The day I accept help from you will be the day my Cyndaquil shoots icicles out of its back."

"If I might add something," added Maggie, "No offense, but... you're not all that nice, Grey. I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable with this."

"Oh? Just what the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?" demanded Grey as she wheeled around. "Am I not pleasant? Am I not a wonderful person to be around? Does my very presence not _FILL YOUR FREAKING HEART WITH JOY?!_"

Maggie did not look particularly bothered by this outburst, but declined to answer all the same. Ethan, on the other hand, though he also declined to answer, still eyed Grey warily before hastening to follow Maggie.

Route -29 was beautiful. Huge fields of grass, with large trees dotting the landscape every so often. It would have been a beautiful view of greenery, except the green was mostly obscured by other colors. A lot of the grass was pink and white, and only some of the trees' bark was brown- for the most part, it was yellow, pink, and blue. Even the trees' leaves looked colorful, though Ethan was fairly certain that even on the most beautiful autumn day, he had never seen leaves that were bright pink, light blue, or a sickly shade of lime green. Above the lovely, albeit oddly colored landscape, several Pidgey could be seen flying.

"Well," Maggie said after they had spent some time walking through the fields of multicolored foliage, "maybe we ought to go together anyway."

"Uh, Maggie?" murmured Ethan. "You seem like a nice person, so don't take this the wrong way, but, um... have you _completely lost your mind?!_"

"Well, Grey, you're going for Hojot's Gym badges too, right?" Maggie asked Grey, who had been stubbornly walking alongside them.

"That's what I said," Grey responded.

"Well, Ethan's doing that as well, so you're bound to cross paths more than once in any case. Besides, I think it'd be more fun to have more people traveling with us than if we were each going by ourselves. I mean, I know, Ethan, we're both finding it a little hard to get along with Grey, but who knows? Things can change. Maybe the two of you could even become friends."

At this, Ethan and Grey both gave funny looks at Maggie. "You really haven't got any brains at all, have you?" Grey asked, shaking her head slowly.


	3. Maggie Vs Grey

Despite the beautiful scenery, the trek across Route -29 was anything but peaceful. Maggie tried to take in the gorgeous view, the strange, multicolored foliage, but found the mood spoiled somewhat by the obvious mutual hatred between Ethan and Grey.

Before long, however, they spotted something before them that even managed to distract Ethan and Grey- a Pokémon. It was a small, bipedal creature with light brown fur, and a very large, striped tail. It was standing up on this tail, making itself appear taller, and was looking around.

"Oh, cool!" Ethan grinned as he held out his Pokédex. "A Sentret!"

"Sentret, the Scout Pokémon," droned the Pokédex. "Wary and cautious, Sentret stands on its tail to get a better view of its surroundings. When it spots intruders, Sentret yells loudly to alert the rest of its kind."

"I hope you don't think you're actually gonna have a shot at catching that Sentret," scoffed Grey.

"Oh? And why shouldn't I?" demanded Ethan.

At this, Grey sneered at Ethan. "Because I'm going to," she said as she threw a Poké Ball. "Tentacool!" she shouted, ignoring Ethan's protests as the Jellyfish Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

Sentret wheeled around to face Grey and Tentacool, and went to make the first move. It got off of its tail, and charged forward, slamming into Tentacool.

"That was Sentret's Tackle attack," observed Ethan.

"Oh, gee, thanks, I would never have figured that out for myself!" Grey snapped. "Tentacool, Supersonic!"

"Tentacool, Tentacool," chanted Tentacool as a volley of soundwaves emanated from the large ruby-colored circles on its head. Sentret instantly started to move about erratically, the attack having disoriented and confused it.

"Now use your Poison Sting!" commanded Grey.

"Tentacool!" exclaimed Tentacool. A barrage of glowing purple needles were then launched off of Tentacool's body. Despite Sentret's disoriented state, it still managed to curl its body up into a perfect sphere. The spikes bounced off, for the most part, but when Sentret unfurled itself, now it was starting to look a little ill.

"Yeah," grinned Grey. "Fat lot of good that Defense Curl did, Sentret's still poisoned!" Then, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Time to make this Sentret mine!" she declared. "Poké Ball! Go!" she shouted, throwing the sphere at the Sentret. As the sphere struck the Scout Pokémon, it opened up, converted the Sentret into a shapeless mass of transparent red energy, then sucked it all inside. Once this was done, the ball snapped shut and fell to the ground. It wobbled violently... Once... Twice...

The ball exploded, suddenly and without warning. Ethan exclaimed and ducked as a shard of Poké Ball flew over him, right where his head had been seconds ago. As the shrapnel flew in every direction, a glowing mass of bright light formed itself back into the shape of Sentret where the ball had been sitting. The glow faded, and Sentret was standing there before them again. Only this time, it looked decidedly pissed.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Grey. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Then, to Ethan and Maggie's surprise, she turned to Ethan and pointed at him accusingly. "You!" she exclaimed. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?!" said Ethan, firing up at once. "What are you talking about? You're the one who didn't weaken Sentret enough!"

"And why didn't it occur to you to point this out at any time?"

"Because since when do you listen to me?!"

"Hey!" Maggie interrupted. "Can't you two please stop?"

"No," said Grey.

"Not really," added Ethan, speaking more or less at the same time as Grey.

"Well, I wish you would," Maggie stated, folding her arms. "If we're gonna travel together, the least you two could do is try to get along."

"I'd rather drink pureed Grimer crap," spat Grey.

"I'd rather have a staring contest with a Primeape," Ethan shot back.

Maggie sighed. Then, she noticed something. Or to be more accurate, she noticed something that was not there to be noticed. "Hey, uh, Grey?" she said.

"What?" demanded Grey. "This had better be something directly relevant to my life if you want me to even pretend to give a Raticate's-"

"The Sentret fled," interrupted Maggie. Grey wheeled around to look- sure enough, the Sentret she had been attempting to catch was long gone.

Ethan and Maggie recoiled in somewhat mild surprise as Grey proceeded to storm around, roaring a selection of obscenities and swearwords that could induce fainting in sailors and truck drivers.

"Geez, Grey," Ethan said once she had finished her profanity-laden tirade. "Could you maybe tone it down a bit?"

"I just missed out on catching that Mewdamn Sentret," snapped Grey. "I will tone it down if and when I'm good and ready! Idiot." With that, she stormed off down Route -29. "Follow me!" she barked. "Evor Gyrrehc City isn't much farther!"

Ethan shot a glare at Maggie. "This was _your_ idea," he hissed at her.

Not long after this, Grey stopped short and wheeled around to face her semi-reluctant companions. "Hey," she said to them. "You know what? Tentacool ain't gonna learn any Water moves if he doesn't battle. So let's battle. I'll take both of you on right now."

"Sure," smirked Ethan. "You have no idea how satisfying it'll be to take you down again."

"Actually, Ethan," Maggie spoke up, "Maybe I could battle Grey first? I'd like to see what Magby can do in battle."

"Hah!" laughed Grey as she readied her Poké Ball. "Bring it, redhead! Tentacool, stand by for battle!" she added, throwing the ball, unleashing her Tentacool onto the grass.

Maggie replied by taking out her own Poké Ball, kissing it, and throwing it. "OK, Magby, I choose you!" she exclaimed.

In a flash of light, Magby materialized. "Magby!" exclaimed the small, red Fire-type. Ethan took out his Pokédex and held it out towards Magby.

"Magby, the Live Coal Pokémon," droned the device. "Magby is found in volcanic craters. It dribbles hot embers with every breath."

"Go, Tentacool! Poison Sting now!" ordered Grey.

"Ember attack!" called Maggie.

"MagBYYYYY!" bellowed Magby as it fired off a number of small yet undeniably hot flames from its mouth. Tentacool responded to this by unleashing a barrage of poisonous needles, all of them glowing purple. The attacks collided in midair, each Ember burning up a Poison Sting, and the attacks cancelled each other out.

"Now use your Constrict attack!" yelled Grey.

"Magby, use Mega Punch!" ordered Maggie.

Tentacool and Magby lunged towards each other. Though Magby managed to slam its fist into the Water/Poison-type, Tentacool still managed to bind its foe with its tentacles. Magby fell to the ground, Tentacool's tentacles pinning its arms to its sides.

"Don't give in, Magby!" said Maggie. "Use Ember attack!"

"Mag! MagBYYYY!" replied Magby, once again firing a barrage of flames from its mouth.

"Tentacool!" exclaimed Tentacool as the flames struck it. Though the attack wasn't very effective, it hurt nonetheless. It loosened its grip on Magby, only a little bit, but that was all the Live Coal Pokémon needed- Magby broke free from the tentacles.

"Yeah! Way to go, Magby!" cheered Maggie. "Now let's finish this!"

"I don't think so!" snarled Grey. "Tentacool! Supersonic!"

"Magby, Karate Chop!" called Maggie.

Tentacool unleashed soundwaves from the smallest of the ruby-like protrusions on its head, though Magby jumped high into the air, evading them. It then raised its right arm, and brought its hand down hard on Tentacool's head, at which point the Jellyfish Pokémon slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Tentacool is unable to ba-" began Ethan.

"If you finish that sentence, it will be the last thing you ever say in this life!" snapped Grey as she withdrew Tentacool. "Now follow me!" she barked as she stormed down the path once again. Ethan rolled his eyes and followed her, though glanced over at Maggie. Maggie was walking next to him, though she was carrying Magby in her arms, still congratulating it on its victory.

"You were great out there, Magby," said Maggie.

"Magby Magby Magby," replied the Magby, who sounded exceptionally pleased by its trainer's words.

"Wow," Ethan remarked to Maggie. "You didn't have Magby for very long, and already it's warmed up to you."

"Well, I've always had a way with Fire-types," smiled Maggie. "When I was a little girl, my mom got this pet Vulpix, and I was the only one who could get close enough to pet it. Everyone else just got an Ember attack to the face."

"Ooh," said Ethan. "Sounds like my mom's pet Meowth. Except I can't even get near him, either," he chuckled. "He- eh, what's this?" he said suddenly, for he had taken notice of a small pink Pokémon drifting past them on the wind. At Ethan's words, Grey wheeled around, but as she saw the creature, she snorted.

"Nothing worth my time, that's for damn sure," she stated. As she spoke, Ethan took out his Pokédex and aimed it at the pink being.

"Hoppip, the Cottonweed Pokémon,"droned the device. "Hoppip's body is so light that the slightest breeze can carry it away. To avoid being carried away against its will, it tightly grips the ground with its feet."

"I kinda like it," grinned Ethan as he prepared a Poké Ball and threw it. "Cyndaquil! Go!" he shouted.

In a flash of light, the dark blue and cream-colored Mouse Pokémon materialized. With a sharp cry of "Cynda!", the flame on its back ignited.

"Hah!" snorted Grey. "You're going to catch a Hoppip? Oh, this is too funny."

"What's so funny about it?" frowned Ethan.

"I'm thinking it has to do with the fact that you so moronically think that that lightweight weakling is worth anything in battle," smirked Grey. "I mean, just look at it. That's it attacking right there."

Ethan turned to face Hoppip, and could see Grey's point; Hoppip had drifted to the ground and was hopping up and down uselessly.

"So, Hoppip can use the Splash attack," said Maggie.

"Well, so can Magikarp, and look what that turns into," Ethan stated. "Cyndaquil! Use Ember!"

"Quiiiiiiil!" squealed Cyndaquil as it fired off a number of tiny flames from its mouth. However, Hoppip was actually able to evade most of these due to the erratic nature of its jumping. Still, a few embers managed to hit it, knocking it down to the ground. As the Grass/Flying-type got back to its feet, it responded to this attack by wheeling around and wagging its stumpy little tail.

"Oooh, a Tail Whip attack," Grey chuckled mockingly. "Intimidating."

"Careful, Cyndaquil," Ethan warned his Pokémon. "The entire point of Tail Whip is to make the opponent let its guard down, making them more open to attack. Use Tackle attack."

"Cynda!" nodded Cyndaquil, as it charged forward, slamming into Hoppip. As the Cottonweed Pokémon recovered from this move, it was looking noticeably battered. Ethan reached for the zipper to his backpack, when suddenly Hoppip's leaves started glowing with a vivid green light. A bright aura came over Hoppip's body for a moment, and when it faded, it seemed to have healed up most of its injuries.

"OK, now that one's new on me," Maggie remarked, a tone of surprise to her voice.

"Looks like Hoppip can use Synthesis," said Ethan, sounding somewhat impressed. "It can heal itself in the middle of a battle. Oh, yeah, definitely catching this one. Cyndaquil, Ember now!"

"Quiiiiiiiil!" Cyndaquil squealed once more, firing off more flames from its mouth. Hoppip frantically tried to start up another Splash to evade them, but this came too late, and each and every ember struck its pink body.

"Hoppip, Hoppip, Hoppip!" Hoppip squeaked in discomfort as it fell on its back and struggled to get back to its feet. As this happened, Ethan saw his chance and seized it immediately; he plunged his hand into his backpack and took out an empty Poké Ball, already enlarged to full size.

"Poké Ball! Go!" Ethan yelled as he flung the sphere at the struggling Hoppip. The ball struck Hoppip and bounced upwards, at which point it split open along the black line which divided the red half from the white half. At the same time, Hoppip's struggling form was converted into a shapeless mass of transparent red energy, which the ball then sucked inside before slamming shut. Then, the Poké Ball fell to the ground and started to wobble back and forth, a red light blinking on and off on the button. Ethan and Maggie watched the ball with interest (Grey watched as well, only not with so much interest), until finally, it stopped shaking, the light stayed off, and the ball emitted a single low-pitched ping.

"Way to go, Ethan!" said Maggie.

"Yes! Ha, ha!" exclaimed Ethan as he raced over to the ball and picked it up. "We did it, Cyndaquil! I caught Hoppip!"

"Cyndaquil!" replied Cyndaquil happily.

"Yeah, yeah, you caught the thing," yawned Grey. "If we're done with amateur hour here, I'd like to reach Evor Gyrrehc City sometime this year."

"Lighten up, Grey," smiled Ethan- not even Grey's unpleasant disposition could dampen his mood right now, he was too happy about having caught his first Pokémon. "You know, you could always try to catch another Pokémon."

"Without weakening it?" scoffed Grey. "Did Tentacool look to be in any kind of shape to weaken wild Pokémon after that battle? Idiot." With that, she wheeled around and continued walking.

"You know, Ethan," Maggie remarked, "Grey may have had a point there."

"I will give you ten thousand Pokédollars to never say that to me again," said Ethan.


	4. When Rattata Attack

The rest of the walk down Route -29 really was uneventful, and soon the trio found themselves surrounded by houses. As usual, the overall color scheme was bright and random. Large areas of different colors were everywhere- one square-shaped patch of blue was mostly on one house's front lawn, but also extended to the front wall of said house. Though Ethan was still in awe of the strange color scheme, and Maggie looked a little intrigued, Grey looked supremely disinterested, and made a point of rolling her eyes at the other two every few minutes.

Finally, they located a large building with a massive Poké Ball built on top- the Pokémon Center. As Ethan took his first few steps towards it, Grey roughly pushed him out of the way and entered before he could.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center," smiled the pink-haired nurse as Grey approached the counter, followed closely by Ethan and Maggie. "How may I help you?"

"My Tentacool," replied Grey, placing the Poké Ball on the counter. "It lost a battle."

"And could you please just have a look at my Cyndaquil and my Hoppip?" added Ethan, producing a pair of Poké Balls from his belt.

"My Pokémon could also use some rest, if that's OK," said Maggie as she handed four Poké Balls to the nurse.

"Not a problem," responded the nurse. "Please, have a seat in the waiting area, and I'll have your Pokémon back to you as soon as possible."

"Thank you," said Ethan and Maggie. Grey merely grunted, but followed the other two as they sat next to each other on a pair of soft chairs.

"Hey, so, Maggie," Ethan said, "I couldn't help but notice you handed the nurse four Poké Balls. I know there's Magby and Rapidash, but what are the others?"

"Ah, yeah," replied Maggie. "I didn't show you my other Pokémon yet, did I?"

"Not caring," said Grey as she sat down across from Ethan and Maggie. "OK, here's the thing- if Tentacool's gonna get any stronger, we gotta train more, and you two are gonna help, got it?"

"Try asking nicely for a change," scowled Ethan. "Would it kill you to be nice for once in your life?"

"No, but it'll kill you if you ask me that again," snapped Grey. "And by 'it', I mean 'I'."

Ignoring this conversation, Maggie reached into her bag and gently pulled out the Egg. Holding it in her lap, Maggie took a piece of cloth out of her bag and started rubbing the Egg with it.

"I wonder what kind of Pokémon's in there," Ethan remarked, regarding the Egg with interest. "Where did it come from again?"

"My boyfriend, Red, he found it just lying on the ground one day on his way to work," said Maggie. "Red's the Gym Leader in Ivadirin City over in the Tanko region," she explained. "He took it to Professor Redwood, but even he couldn't identify the Pokémon it would hatch into." At the mention of Red, however, tears started to form in Maggie's eyes. "Sorry," she murmured as she wiped the tears away. "It's just... I hope he's OK..."

"We'll find him," Ethan assured Maggie. There was silence for the next minute or so as Maggie sat there, thinking about Red. "Hey," said Ethan, to break the silence, "Can I hold the Egg?"

"Oh, sure," said Maggie, smiling once again. She handed over the Egg, and Ethan took it carefully into his hands... and then it made a sudden lurching movement. Ethan's eyes widened at this, and thankfully, the Egg didn't fall out of his arms.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "It moved!" Even Grey looked mildly interested at this.

"It does that every so often," Maggie explained. "It's been getting slightly more frequent, so I'm thinking it must be getting closer to hatching."

"How fascinating," Grey remarked dryly. Ethan opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment, the nurse walked over to them, carrying several trays of Poké Balls.

"All right," she smiled, "your Pokémon are back to full health!"

"Thanks," grinned Ethan as he replaced Cyndaquil and Hoppip's Poké Balls on his belt. Maggie took her Poké Balls, also thanking the nurse, though Grey said nothing as she reclaimed Tentacool's Poké Ball. Maggie also took the Egg back from Ethan and placed it back in her bag.

"Thank you for using the Pokémon Center," the nurse said as they made to leave. "We hope to see you again!"

At this, Grey stopped short, nearly causing Ethan to trip. She wheeled around and marched over to the nurse. "Just what the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?!" she demanded.

"I- what-" the nurse stammered, at a loss for words.

"What, you _want_ my Pokémon to get hurt again, is that what you're saying?!" exclaimed Grey.

"Grey, stop it!" said Ethan as he tried to stand between her and the nurse. Grey responded by roughly shoving him aside.

"Mind your business, idiot," she snapped. "And as for you," she spat, turning to face the nurse once more, "You're damn lucky you caught me in a good mood today." With that, she wheeled around and stormed out of the center. As Maggie helped Ethan to his feet, the two of them exchanged brief glances, then raced after Grey. After exiting the center and finding themselves back in the great, multicolored outdoors, Grey could be seen storming off down a road. A nearby pink and yellow wooden sign indicated that the road lead to Route -30.

"Grey, what was that about?" asked Maggie as they caught up to her. "You were going to make a big scene in there over nothing!"

"You really don't have any brains at all," snorted Grey. "She said she hopes to see us again. Meaning, she hopes we would have to come in again. Meaning, she wants our Pokémon injured."

"That's nuts," said Ethan. "There's no way that's what she meant."

Grey said nothing in response to this, but made a point of scoffing and rolling her eyes at Ethan before they continued walking. Maggie gave a small sigh, wondering whether the pair would ever warm up to each other. Or at the very least, ease up on the open hostility.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" demanded Grey as Ethan started to pull ahead. "I'm not about to start following you around. I'd sooner take directions from a Murkrow."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm tired of having to follow you around," Ethan shot back. "Maybe I want to take the lead for a change- oh dear Mew, what is THAT?!"

For at that moment, they had started walking on Route -30, and the first thing Ethan saw was a swarm of diminutive purple rectangular creatures buzzing around, gibbering excitedly and nonsensically. Occasionally, one would explode, but none of them seemed to be harmed by this.

"It's a swarm of .4, idiot," snapped Grey.

"Point WHAT?" said Ethan.

".4," Maggie explained as she caught up to the bickering trainers. "They're a kind of Pokémon native to Tanko- and apparently, Hojot. Look them up on your Pokédex."

Ethan held up his Pokédex, and an image of a .4 appeared on the screen. ".4, the Caffeine Pokémon," the machine droned. ".4's body constantly generates energy, which it discharges with minor explosions. This energy is renewed almost instantly, allowing it to blow up several times in rapid succession."

"Weird," Ethan stated.

"Yes, you are," smirked Grey, earning her a glare from Ethan. Ignoring this, Grey readied a Poké Ball. "Alright, I might not have gotten that Sentret, but I'm sure one of these .4 will become mine! Tentacool!" she shouted, throwing the ball, and unleashing Tentacool in a flash of light. Several of the .4 flew off at the sight of Tentacool, though five remained. They all proceeded to fly circles around Tentacool, their movement getting progressively faster.

"What are they doing?" asked Ethan.

"What, you've never seen an Agility attack before?" snapped Grey. "Idiot. Tentacool. Poison Sting attack!"

"Tentacooool!" yelled Tentacool as it aimed its tentacles in different directions, and fired off barrages of poison needles from the tip of each tentacle. Though the .4 were quick, anguished squealing told Grey that the attack had landed. The .4 slowed down somewhat, and some of them were wobbling a bit in midair.

"Now nail 'em with your Supersonic!" grinned Grey.

"Tentacool, Tentacool, Tentacool!" chanted Tentacool, volleys of soundwaves emitting from the large ruby-like protrusions on its head. As the Supersonic hit, all the .4 started flying erratically and blowing up, though now when one blew up, the others were blown back.

"The .4 are confused!" exclaimed Maggie. "They're hitting each other with TM28!"

"With what now?" said Ethan incredulously.

"TM28- it's .4's signature move," explained Maggie. "That's when .4 blows up, but doesn't knock itself out like something with Selfdestruct or Explosion would. My cousin's .4 knows that move, and it's really strong," she added.

Grey, meanwhile, was smirking with satisfaction- most of the .4 had fallen as a result of attacking each other and were feebly floating away. Only one remained now, and it went on the offensive, a pair of blocky purple wings sprouting from its sides, as it dove down at Tentacool.

"Dodge that Wing Attack now, Tentacool!" commanded Grey. "And use Poison Sting!"

"Tentacool, Tenta... cool cool cool!" Tentacool exclaimed suddenly, for it seemed the Jellyfish Pokémon had different plans. Instead of evading the oncoming Pokémaniac-type, Tentacool's ruby-red protrusions glowed blue, and a forceful stream of bubbles burst forth from them, keeping the .4 at bay.

"Whoa!" Ethan exclaimed.

"For once in your pathetic life, I agree with you," grinned Grey. "Looks like Tentacool's learned BubbleBeam. Hit it again, Tentacool!"

And hit it again Tentacool did, firing off another BubbleBeam. Unfortunately for Grey, however, .4 made no effort to resist this one, and as a result, the powerful Water move sent it flying.

"Hey, no!" Grey snapped angrily. She scooped Tentacool into her arms and ran off after the .4. "Get back here!" As she ran, Ethan and Maggie took off after her. "Damn it!" swore Grey as she looked around, finding no sign of the .4. "Where is it? Where the hell is it?!"

"Heh," chuckled a nearby voice. "What kind of trainer lets a wild Pokémon get away from them like that?" Simultaneously, the three of them wheeled around, spotting a young boy standing before them. He was clad in a white shirt, blue shorts, and a blue cap, and he wore a Poké Ball on a chain around his neck.

"I beg your freaking pardon?" growled Grey.

"Yeah, you heard me," the boy responded. "Not much of a trainer if you let a simple .4 get away from you so easily, are you?"

"Hey, what gives you the right to talk to her like that?" asked Ethan.

"Ethan, you talk to her like that all the time," Maggie reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but I know she's a jerk," replied Ethan. "We don't even know who this guy is."

"Don't know who I am?" repeated the boy. "Well, then, I suppose I'm going to have to fix that." With that, he turned his cap backwards and spoke in what he seemed to think was a grand voice;

"Defeating all trainers across the nation,  
The shorts-wearing boy with the Pokémon sensation!  
My skills will leave you in awe and despair,  
No matter how well you think you will fare!  
When battling _moi_, your defeat is quite certain,  
Once my trusted partner starts to dish out the hurtin'!  
When your team is knocked out, my work is complete,  
I am the great trainer Joey, now prepare for defeat!"

At this point, the Poké Ball around Joey's neck burst open, and white light gushed out onto the boy's shoulder, forming itself into a small purple rodent with extremely prominent front teeth. "Rrrrrattata!" it screeched. At the sight of it, Ethan took out his Pokédex.

"Rattata, the Rat Pokémon," droned the device. "Rattata has impressive vitality- it can live anywhere, will eat anything, and multiplies very quickly. It prefers habitats with easy access to food."

"...So, your name is Joey," Ethan said.

"You need me to do the motto again?" asked Joey.

"NO!" exclaimed Ethan, Grey, and Maggie simultaneously.

"Good," smirked Joey. "So, which of you losers is to battle me first?"

"Well, I dunno about losers," replied Ethan, taking out a Poké Ball, "but I'm ready to go!"

"Hah!" said Ethan. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Go, Hoppip!" Ethan called as he threw the Poké Ball. In a flash of light, the pink Grass/Flying-type materialized, softly landing on the ground. In response, Joey turned his head to face the Normal-type on his shoulder.

"First victim is ready for you, Rattata," he said.

"Rattata!" replied Rattata as it jumped down and assumed an aggressive stance.

"One-on-one battle between Joey and Ethan- begin!" stated Maggie as she stood off to the side, clearly intending to referee.

"Hoppip, use Tail Whip!" ordered Ethan.

"Hop pip, Hop pip, Hop pip," replied Hoppip as it wheeled around and wagged its stubby tail. Neither Joey nor Rattata looked impressed.

"That's child's play!" said Joey. "Rattata! Tackle it!"

"Rrrrrattata!" screamed Rattata, the Normal-type charging forward at high speed, slamming into Hoppip and sending it flying. However, by frantically flapping its leaves, Hoppip managed to gain control, and was able to float back to the ground.

"OK, time to go on the offensive," decided Ethan. "Hoppip, Tackle attack right back!"

"Hoppip!" squeaked Hoppip as it charged forward, slamming into Rattata. However, the Cottonweed Pokémon didn't seem to do much damage.

"Yeah, a Hoppip's too light to make use of its Tackle attack," smirked Joey. "Rattata, use your Quick Attack!"

"Hoppip, dodge it with Splash!" ordered Ethan.

Rattata charged forward once more, this time at greater speeds, though at the same time, Hoppip began to jump up and down. Through well-timed jumps, Hoppip was just barely able to evade the move. Rattata screeched to a halt and wheeled around, looking annoyed.

"Way to go," grinned Ethan. "Now heal yourself with Synthesis!"

"Hoppip Hoppip," nodded Hoppip as its leaves started to glow green.

"Don't give it the chance, Rattata!" said Joey. "Let's finish this! Flame Wheel now!"

"Flame Wheel?!" exclaimed Ethan, Maggie, and Grey simultaneously.

"Well, yeah, didn't you know Rattata could learn that move?" asked Joey, smirking evilly.

At that moment, a swirling wheel of fire surrounded Rattata's entire body, and started to roll right towards Hoppip, who was unable to dodge in time. All it took was one hit from the super effective Fire move, and the Grass/Flying-type was on the ground, not moving.

"Hoppip is unable to battle!" declared Maggie. "Joey and Rattata are the winners!"

"Awww yeeeaaaah!" exclaimed Joey as Rattata resumed its position on his shoulder. "And let that be a lesson to you losers- my Rattata is in the top percentage of Rattata! Never forget that! And now, it's off to the Pokémon Center- that makes victory number ten for the day, time for a little break. Come, Rattata, the center awaits!"

"Rattata," said the Rat Pokémon as Joey marched off towards Evor Gyrrehc City. The trio watched him in silence. Once he was gone, Grey spoke up.

"Wow," she said. "Is that not the most conceited, arrogant fathead it has ever been your displeasure to have encountered?"

"No, but he's a close second," quipped Ethan, earning him a slap in the face from Grey.


	5. Done And Dunsparce

Once the trio had recovered from the understandable shock of meeting Joey, they took off once again. Mercifully, the other trainers they encountered were noticeably less full of themselves. Ethan's Hoppip fared much better against a Bug Catcher's Caterpie; Grey and her Tentacool took out a Youngster's .4 with ease; and Maggie and Magby were able to easily claim victory over a Lass and her Sentret.

As they walked, Ethan looked at a green and orange wooden sign posted to their right. "Oh, look," Ethan said. "Looks like we're going into Route -31. We must be getting closer to... what's the next city's name again?"

Grey rolled her eyes. "Teloiv City. The next city is Teloiv City. Idiot," she snapped. "More importantly, there's a Pokémon Gym in Teloiv City, and I intend to destroy the Gym Leader and earn the badge."

"Yeah, well, same here," said Ethan, "so you're just gonna have to wait for the real trainer to win his badge first."

"You mean the real trainer who lost to that Rattata," retorted Grey. "Tentacool would've ground that thing into a fine powder."

"Easy for you to say," frowned Ethan. "Tentacool would've resisted Flame Wheel. Hoppip was weak to it."

"And yet you used it anyway."

"Well, how was I supposed to know Rattata could learn Flame Wheel?!"

"OK, cool it, both of you," Maggie said. "Now, in my experience, Gym Leaders tend to use more than just one Pokémon. Grey, it might be in your best interest to catch another Pokémon before you take on the Gym."

"I know that," snapped Grey. "What, you think I'm an idiot or something? Or did you not see me try to catch Sentret or .4?"

"Oh, will you ease up on her?" demanded Ethan. "Maggie's nothing but nice to us!"

"Mind your business, idiot," said Grey. "Now come on." She marched off towards what appeared to be a large blue and orange mountain.

"Whoa," said Ethan upon spotting aforementioned mountain. "What is this?"

"Krad Cave, of course," shouted Grey, who was already pulling farther ahead. "You really are an idiot!" Scowling, Ethan followed Grey, though the both of them plus Maggie were forced to stop short as a number of blue Pokémon flew out of the mouth of the cave, each of them flapping a pair of blue and purple leathery wings. These Pokémon all sported wide open mouths lined with sharp fangs, yet none of them appeared to have any eyes. At the sight of them, Grey held out her Pokédex.

"Zubat, the Bat Pokémon," said the Pokédex. "Zubat emits ultrasonic waves from its mouth to check its surroundings. This enables it to safely fly in the dark."

"That's odd," Maggie remarked. "It's not that late in the afternoon. Zubat generally sleep during the day, and when they don't, they still usually stay where it's dark."

"Yeah, thanks for pointing out the obvious," snapped Grey, ducking as a Zubat swooped down at her. "Oh, no, you didn't!" she added, scowling at the Zubat, readying a Poké Ball. "Tentacool, teach these things some manners!" she yelled, throwing the ball.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we leave her to that," Ethan muttered to Maggie. "Let's check out the cave, maybe get a few minutes of peace and quiet for once."

"I heard that!" snapped Grey, shouting over the squealing of the Zubat that were currently being pelted by Tentacool's BubbleBeam.

"You were supposed to!" retorted Ethan as he walked into the cave with Maggie. "Whoa," he added as he took note of the cave's interior- or tried to, at least. The inside of Krad Cave happened to be pitch-black.

"Yeah, it's pretty dark in here," replied Maggie. "Oh, I know what'll help, though!" she added brightly, and at that moment, Ethan could hear the click of a Poké Ball being detached from a belt, and the whirring noise of said ball being enlarged to full size. "Rapidash, come on out!" exclaimed Maggie, and Ethan had to shield his eyes as a rush of blinding light emerged from the ball Maggie was holding in the air. From the ball emerged the fiery horse she had been riding on when she first met Ethan, and the flames which made up its mane and tail were now providing dim illumination to what Ethan now knew to be a fairly small cavern. A number of Zubat fled in all directions in response to Rapidash being sent out.

"Good thinking," Ethan nodded. "Let's see if there's anything cool in here to catch- WAAAUGH!" he exclaimed, as he tripped and fell to the ground.

"Ethan?" Maggie said, as she ran over and helped him up. "Are you OK?"

"Ugh... Yeah, I think, thanks," he groaned. Ethan then turned to see what caused him to trip, and then did a double take, for he spotted at that moment a somewhat large yellow Pokémon, vaguely serpentine in appearance. It sported a pair of tiny white wings on its back, and was currently crawling out of a hole in the ground, revealing its tail to end in a drill-like protrusion.

"What is that?" Maggie asked.

"That's a Dunsparce!" said Ethan excitedly, holding up his Pokédex. "They're really rare!"

"Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokémon," droned the device. "Dunsparce lives primarily in dark caves where no light reaches. When spotted, it burrows underground with its tail."

"Sparce?!" chirped the Dunsparce, having only just noticed that Ethan had spotted it. As the tip of its tail started to rotate like a drill, Ethan threw a Poké Ball.

"No, you don't!" he exclaimed. "Cyndaquil! Tackle it!"

"Quiiiiiiil!" exclaimed Cyndaquil as the Fire-type emerged from its ball, already charging straight for the wild Dunsparce. Cyndaquil slammed into its Normal-type adversary, knocking it away from the hole it was looking to re-enter. Apparently realizing that the only way out of this was through battle, Dunsparce turned to face Cyndaquil, its slit-like eyes glowing red. Then, as its wings began to beat furiously, lifting it several inches off the ground, a red aura cloaked Dunsparce's entire body as it charged into Cyndaquil.

"Dunsparce is using a Rage attack," Maggie warned Ethan. "Every time you hit it, you're going to increase its attack power!"

"Right," nodded Ethan. "Cyndaquil, Leer!"

"Cynda!" replied Cyndaquil as its own slit-like eyes glowed, though this glow was yellow. Dunsparce seemed to lose what little confidence it had gained, now looking as though it was about to try escaping again.

"Now Tackle it once more!" Ethan commanded.

"Cyndaquil!" said Cyndaquil, already in the process of charging at Dunsparce, who responded by curling its body into a vaguely spherical shape. Though Tackle hit its mark, it didn't appear to have done much more damage than it had the last time.

"Cancelled out Leer with Defense Curl," grunted Ethan. "Of course. Cyndaquil, Ember attack now!"

"Quiiiiiiil!" squealed Cyndaquil, its back firing up, and multiple flames erupting from its mouth rapid-fire. Dunsparce hissed and shrieked as the flames pelted it, its Defense Curl was useless against the special attack. Once Cyndaquil had stopped, Dunsparce was still conscious, yet very much weakened. Wearily it tried to crawl over to the hole through which it had emerged above ground in the first place.

"Oh, no, you don't!" said Ethan as he threw a red-and-white sphere at the escaping Land Snake. "Poké Ball, go!"

Though Dunsparce was moving as fast as it could under the circumstances, the ball hit it squarely in the head. Ethan smirked his satisfaction as Dunsparce was converted into transparent red energy and sucked into the Poké Ball. It fell to the ground, and started wobbling back and forth- even Rapidash was watching intently. And then, the ball stopped, the telltale low-pitched pinging noise echoing throughout the cave.

"Sweet!" grinned Ethan as he scooped up the ball. "I caught a Dunsparce!"

"Quil Cyndaquil!" added Cyndaquil, sounding just as happy as its trainer.

"Nice job, Ethan," smiled Maggie, with Rapidash neighing in approval. "Now, how about we go see how Grey's doing?"

"Ugh, fine," groaned Ethan, rolling his eyes. "Hey, what do you wanna bet a Zubat's sucked her blood?"

"That's not funny," replied Maggie, to which Ethan gave her a look. "...OK, a little," she admitted with a slight chuckle.

"Alright, hand it over!" came a sudden voice. Ethan and Maggie wheeled around, and there stood a man and a woman, dressed in identical uniforms- black clothing, with a bright orange letter E and a bright green letter D on the chests. Each of them was clutching a Poké Ball.

"Wha- who are you?!" demanded Ethan.

"I'll tell you who they are," scowled Grey, who had just walked into the cave and was regarding the mysterious men with a contemptuous glare. "Team ED. A gang that's been wreaking havoc all over Hojot lately."

"Team Ed?" said Ethan.

"That's Team E-D!" snapped the man. "You spell it out! Now hand over that Dunsparce you just caught!"

Grey blinked in surprise. "_You_ caught a Dunsparce?" she asked Ethan, her tone dripping with skepticism. "I doubt it. There's beginner's luck, and then there's the outright impossible."

"I'll be more than glad to prove you wrong once we get away from these clowns," said Ethan. "This Dunsparce is mine, go catch your own!" he added, now addressing the Team ED grunts.

"Not about to happen, twerp," the woman replied. "Maybe if we were paid enough to afford Poké Balls, we would, but we're not, so here we are. Now, we need that Dunsparce- as many rare and powerful Pokémon as we can get our hands on!"

"Careful, Missy," the man advised. "You don't want to be giving away all our secrets."

"Relax, Ingo," the woman apparently called Missy replied. "They won't be getting any more than that out of me."

"So, Missy and Ingo, was it?" said Maggie. "You're not getting anyone's Pokémon here. Rapidash, ready?" Rapidash neighed in response, its flames seeming to intensify. Grey did a double take, this being the first time she saw any of Maggie's Pokémon other than Magby, but she said nothing.

"OK, you've forced our hand!" snapped Missy, throwing her Poké Ball. "LM4, go!"

"Delibird, go get them!" added Ingo, also throwing his Poké Ball.

Both balls opened up in simultaneous flashes of light. One Pokémon was a rather large bird covered in red and white feathers, appearing to hold a white sack in one of its wings. The other was a large floating cube with various blue and black markings. Ethan held out his Pokédex.

"LM4, the Bubble Cube Pokémon," droned the device. "LM4 is famed for its vicious battle style. Despite this, it has a gentle disposition, and will rescue any drowning swimmer it encounters. Delibird, the Delivery Pokémon. Delibird carries food around constantly. There are tales of people who were saved by its stockpiles of food."

"Alright, let's do this!" declared Ethan, turning to the Fire-type next to him. "Cyndaquil, I choose you!"

"Cynda!" nodded Cyndaquil as it raced forward and flexed its stubby arms, causing its back to ignite once more as it stood facing Delibird.

At that moment, Grey threw a Poké Ball. "Here we go!" she exclaimed as the ball opened up, unleashing its occupant in a flash of light, and what came out seemed to surprise both Ethan and Maggie.

"A Zubat?" Ethan said in surprise. "What the-"

"Caught one before I entered the cave, duh," snapped Grey. "Zubat, Quick Attack!"

"Cyndaquil, Ember attack!" ordered Ethan.

"LM4! Water Gun!" yelled Missy.

"Delibird, Present attack!" commanded Ingo.

The battle commenced. Zubat dove down at LM4, cutting right through the stream of water it was unleashing from the front of its body and slamming into it hard. Meanwhile, Cyndaquil fired off a barrage of flames from its mouth, at the same time Delibird dug a glowing sphere of energy out of its sack and lobbed it at Cyndaquil. As Delibird squawked in response to the flames which struck it, the orb exploded on contact with Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil!" Ethan exclaimed. "You OK?"

"Cynda, cynda!" nodded Cyndaquil as it climbed back to its feet.

"Good," grinned Ethan. "OK, now use Fury Swipes!"

"Quil quil quil quil quil!" Cyndaquil squealed, now furiously scratching away at Delibird with its front paws, not leaving any opening for the Ice/Flying-type to retaliate.

"Zubat, use your Gust attack!" commanded Grey. In response, Zubat chirped and chattered as it flapped its leathery wings furiously, whipping up a powerful wind which blew LM4 backwards and into a rock. Both LM4 and Delibird slumped to the ground at the same time.

"Nice job, you two!" Maggie grinned as Missy and Ingo, scowling, withdrew their unconscious Pokémon.

"Yeah, I guess that went well in spite of who I had to work with," said Grey.

"In spite of me?!" retorted Ethan. "If anything, you were holding me back. I could've handled both of their Pokémon with my eyes shut."

"Even that LM4?" said Grey. "I highly doubt it, They're very powerful Water-types."

"I'm thinking we should retreat right about now," Ingo remarked to Missy. "Let those lovebirds argue it out- what the hell?" he added, for at the word "lovebirds", Grey had started marching over to them. "Hey, lady, what do you think you're doing?" demanded Ingo, for Grey was wordlessly moving the two around, so their backs were facing the mouth of the cave, and Missy was standing right behind Ingo. In response to Ingo's question, Grey wound up and delivered a powerful punch to his gut, knocking him and Missy clear out of the cave.

"You may win this time, but we'll be baaaaack!" shouted Missy as they flew off.

"Whoa," Ethan remarked, clearly impressed against his will.

"Come on," snapped Grey. "Teloiv City shouldn't be much farther."

Much as Ethan hated to admit it, Grey was right once again. Once they exited the cave, it was only a ten-minute walk until they were surrounded by randomly colored buildings, and Grey was yanking open the pink and orange doors to the Teloiv City Pokémon Center.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center," smiled the nurse as the group approached the counter. "How may we help you?"

"All of our Pokémon could use some rest," Ethan stated as he handed the nurse three Poké Balls. Grey wordlessly thrust two Poké Balls at the nurse, and Maggie handed over four.

"Excuse me," Maggie said suddenly, "But I don't suppose you've seen a boy come in here, with a red cap, a red jacket over a black shirt?

"No, sorry," the nurse replied. Maggie sighed at this answer. "You're Maggie McPixel, right?" added the nurse.

"Yes,"said Maggie.

"I have a message from the Evor Gyrrehc City's Pokémon Center nurse," she replied. "She's actually seen someone matching that description a few weeks back. She apparently only just learned that this was Red, however, or else she'd have said something when she saw you earlier today."

"She saw Red?" Maggie asked excitedly. "Does she know where he is?"

"Sorry, no," the nurse shook her head. "She stated that he was accompanied by a pair of Team ED members, however, and that he didn't look especially happy with them. She called the police, of course, but they came up with nothing so far."

"So, that conniving Team ED has my Red?" hissed Maggie, now looking rather displeased. "Well, thank you, I appreciate the information."

Following this, the nurse took the Poké Balls to the healing station. As it was getting late, the group unanimously decided to get a room for the night. But first, they stopped off in the center's cafeteria for something to eat.

"What the-" exclaimed Ethan upon looking at the menu. "Fried nines? Even number salad? What is this?"

"Oh, are you kidding me?" snapped Grey. "You don't know basic food items-"

"Grey, please," interrupted Maggie. "Ethan's from Johto, don't forget, there's a lot he doesn't know about Tanko or Hojot." With that, she began to patiently explain to Ethan all about the food in Tanko and Hojot. It didn't take long for Ethan to get the idea, and soon enough, he was happily munching away on a plate of fried nines.

"So, there's a Pokémon Gym in town," Maggie said to Ethan and Grey, both of whom seemed to be trying to eat their fried nines faster than the other. "You two gonna go for badges?"

"Of course," Ethan stated between bites. "I wonder what type the Gym Leader uses."

"Flying-types, I'm pretty sure," Grey stated after swallowing a mouthful of fried nine. "Meaning that dopey Hoppip of yours is more screwed than usual," she added.

"Hey, don't insult my Hoppip," snapped Ethan. "How many battles has that Tentacool of yours won again?"

"More than your Hoppip," smirked Grey. "And might I add, you just walked right into that one."

Ethan chose not to comment on this, and thus the remainder of the meal was eaten in silence. Maggie also said nothing as she consumed her seven burger. Once the nurse gave them back their Poké Balls, the trio made their way to the room the nurse had directed them to, at which point each of them chose a bed (which involved an absurdly lengthy argument between Ethan and Grey as to who got which bunk on the bunk bed; this culminated in Grey punching Ethan in the stomach and taking the top bunk while he attempted to catch his breath. As the pain started to subside and Ethan started to drift off to sleep, all that was on his mind was winning his Gym battle tomorrow.


	6. Fight And Flight

As the orange and purple sun rose over Teloiv City, two Pokémon Trainers were in the process of waking up in their room in the Pokémon Center. Of the two, however, it was clear that only one of them was a morning person.

"Good morning, Grey," smiled Maggie. "Good morning, Ethan- er, Ethan?" she added, noting Ethan's empty bed.

"Mmph," grunted Grey as she got out of her bed. "The idiot tried to wake me up at five in the friggin' morning," she explained. "Said he was too excited about the Gym battle to get to sleep and that he wanted us all to get an early start. I told him that the next time he woke me up at such an unMewly hour, they wouldn't find his remains."

"A little harsh, don't you think?" asked Maggie.

Grey shrugged. "Not really," she said. "Harsh would be punctuating that threat with a good kick to the Sludge Bombs. And I probably would've thought of that had I not just been woken up."

Maggie sighed. "Grey, what did Ethan ever do to you?" she asked.

"Well, let's see," replied Maggie. "Well... Um... First, he... uh... mind your business," she said. "Now, let's get moving. I got a badge to win and an idiot to watch fail miserably. You coming or what?"

Once the girls had exited the Pokémon Center, they were greeted with the sight of Ethan walking up to them, grinning widely, his excitement obvious. "All right, you guys are finally up," said Ethan. "Let's go! I got directions from the nurse to the Gym."

"What have you been doing all morning, Ethan?" asked Maggie.

"Oh, just working out a strategy for my battle," replied Ethan.

"A strategy?" snorted Grey. "So you've come up with a new way to lose. This I gotta see."

Ethan gave Grey a dirty look, but otherwise did not respond to this. Instead, he led the way down the yellow and green brick road. It wound through the city, and not five minutes later, they found themselves standing before a massive metal structure that looked not unlike a giant warehouse. The blue and purple building had a pair of double doors in front, above which hung a large sign which read "Teloiv City Pokémon Gym". The sign was decorated with a number of small painted Pidgey pictures, and the I in "Teloiv" was dotted with a spherical green Pokémon's likeness. Too excited to care about the sign's artistic touches, Ethan strolled up to the doors and pushed at them. But they didn't yield.

"What the-" grumbled Ethan as he pushed harder on the doors.

"Hey," Grey said.

"Oh, don't start on me," interrupted Ethan, pushing even harder on the doors. "Don't start trying to make me out to be the idiot or whatever garbage you're trying to pull."

"You mean like demonstrating basic reading skills?" snapped Grey as she yanked Ethan away from the doors and pointed at the signs on them- identical black rectangular signs, each of them printed with large red lettering.

"PULL"

"...OK, you win this time," Ethan hissed, sounding as though this admission nauseated him. He pulled on the doors this time, which swung open almost insultingly easily, and the trio filed inside.

The interior of the Gym was just as massive as the outside- in the center of the tiled floor was a large dirt rectangle, outlined with white lines, clearly marking it as the battlefield. Above it, a tremendous amount of space. Of course, Ethan reasoned, the Gym Leader was said to specialize in Flying-types, so this did make sense- more space would allow the battles to take place in the sky whenever possible. And then, on the far end of the battlefield, standing beside what appeared to be a Pokémon Center healing machine, there was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She had light brown hair that came down to her waist, and was dressed in a light blue tank top and a matching pair of shorts.

"Hello," the girl greeted them, a smile on her face. "Welcome, Trainers, to the Teloiv Gym. My name is Heather, I'm the Gym Leader here. Are all three of you here to challenge me?"

"I'm not," Maggie replied. "These two, however, are."

"I'm Ethan Golde of New Bark Town in the Johto region," Ethan stated. "And I've come to challenge you to a battle!"

"Grey Spearow Of Krab Wen Town," added Grey. "Also here for a battle."

"The Johto region?" repeated Heather, sounding mildly surprised. "Interesting! Well, now, I think we should commence battle, don't you? I'll take you both on, in the order in which you introduced yourselves. Two Pokémon each, is this acceptable?"

"Fine by me," nodded Ethan. Grey merely grunted, but nodded all the same.

"Good," smiled Heather, producing a Poké Ball from her belt. "Now, I'll make my first choice. Hoothoot! In the sky!" she exclaimed, throwing the ball.

In a flash of light, a spherical bird with brown plumage materialized, landing on the ground on what appeared to be a single clawed foot. A pair of stubby wings protruded from either side of its round body, and its eyes were a piercing shade of red. "Hooooothoot," it hooted as Ethan took out his Pokédex.

"Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon," droned the device. "Hoothoot always stands on one foot. It changes feet on occasion, though it does this so rapidly that the movement is hard to see."

"Alright, then," grinned Ethan, as he threw his own Poké Ball. "Hoppip, go!"

"Oh, you stupid idiot," Grey shook her head as Ethan's Hoppip materialized, landing lightly on the ground.

"Ooooh, it's so cute!" Heather squealed. "But don't think we'll go easy on you! Hoothoot! Peck attack!"

Hoothoot's wings started to beat at an alarmingly fast rate, and the Normal/Flying-type was zooming towards Hoppip at great speeds.

"Hoppip, Splash attack!" Ethan ordered.

"Hoppip, Hoppip, Hoppip," said Hoppip as it jumped up and down, gaining height with each jump. However, Hoothoot was able to change direction swiftly, and jabbed at the Cottonweed Pokémon with its small yet pointy beak. Instead of floating to the ground, however, it flapped its leaves a few times, and remained in the air, floating around.

"Hmm, Splash didn't work so well that time," lamented Maggie.

"Well, duh- Splash really isn't supposed to have any effect at all," retorted Grey. "Ethan's just been getting lucky with it."

"Hoppip, now, Tackle it!" Ethan ordered.

"We'll use Tackle as well, Hoothoot!" called Heather.

"Oh, this ought to be good," cackled Grey. "Trying a Tackle attack again with that lightweight."

Hoppip, however, seemed more determined this time, By flapping its leaves like makeshift wings, it propelled itself through the air as Hoothoot soared towards it. And then, as the pair of Flying-types collided, Grey was nothing short of shocked to see that Hoppip was actually putting up a good fight. Both Hoppip and Hoothoot were struggling against each other, until they finally bounced back, each of them eyeing the other one warily.

"OK, Hoppip!" grinned Ethan. "PoisonPowder!"

"PoisonPowder?" repeated Grey. "Since when in the hell does your Hoppip have that move?"

"What do you think I was doing this morning to pass the time?" replied Ethan. "Got in some extra training, particularly with Hoppip. Helped it out with its Tackle attack, and it even learned PoisonPowder in the process!"

"Hoppip Hoppip!" exclaimed Hoppip as its leaves shook violently, scattering a purple dust around Hoothoot, who immediately started to look ill.

"Hoothoot!" said Heather. "Come on, we can do this! Use your Hypnosis attack!"

"Don't give it a chance!" Ethan called out. "Hoppip! Tackle!"

Though Hoothoot's eyes took on a red glow, Hoppip was faster, crashing into Hoothoot at surprising speeds and sending the Owl Pokémon tumbling to the ground, at which point it twitched slightly and ceased all movement.

"All right!" grinned Ethan, Hoppip doing a loop-de-loop in celebration. Heather sighed, recalling her Hoothoot to its Poké Ball.

"Well, I'm impressed, Ethan," she smiled. "That Hoppip is really well-trained. But," she added, another Poké Ball already in her hand, "Let's see how it measures up to this! Natu! In the sky!" she exclaimed, throwing the ball.

In a flash of light, the ball's occupant became visible- it was the small, green, spherical Pokémon depicted on the Gym's sign as the dot over the "i". "Tu Natu," it chirped, waving its tiny wings. In response, Ethan held out his Pokédex.

"Natu, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," it droned. "Natu is always staring at something. Its wings are not fully developed, meaning it can only hop to get around."

"Heh," smirked Ethan. "It can't even fly? This battle is as good as won!"

"Careful, Ethan," warned Maggie. "Gym Leaders tend to save their very best for last!"

"We'll see about that," replied Ethan. "Hoppip, use your PoisonPowder!"

"Dodge, Natu, and use Curse!" ordered Heather.

As Hoppip scattered another wave of fine purple dust, Natu hopped out of the way, and a red aura briefly took over its entire body, fading away as quickly as it came.

"Uh... OK," Ethan said. "Dunno what that was about... Well, try another PoisonPowder, Hoppip!"

"Natu, Teleport!" said Heather.

In the blink of an eye, Natu was gone. Ethan looked around, and saw the Psychic/Flying-type reappear in midair- directly above Hoppip, who was uselessly scattering the PoisonPowder down on the battlefield below.

"What?!" yelled Ethan.

"Peck attack right now!" grinned Heather.

"Tuuuuuuu!" trilled Natu as it positioned itself so it was falling beak-first. The Peck attack, further fueled by gravity, plowed Hoppip straight to the ground. Even as Natu hopped away, it was perfectly clear that the damage had been done- Hoppip was unconscious.

"But- but- but-" spluttered Ethan as he recalled Hoppip.

"Oh, you sad, sad little weirdo," cackled Grey. "Isn't it obvious what happened? First, Natu used Curse to boost its attack power. Then it used Teleport to get into the sky, and after that, its Peck attack was powered up not just by Curse, but also by gravity as it fell."

"Exactly," nodded Heather. "We worked it out, Natu and I, specifically to get around its inability to fly, see?"

"Well, I definitely didn't see that coming," sighed Ethan. "OK, time to see how well this one does," he added, as he threw a Poké Ball. "Go! Dunsparce!" he shouted as the Land Snake Pokémon materialized.

"Huh. I'll be damned, he wasn't lying," Grey remarked. "Still just beginner's luck, though, I say."

"This should be interesting,"grinned Heather. "Natu, Quick Attack!"

"Tuuu!" replied Natu as it started hopping forward, accelerating with each hop.

"Dunsparce, Defense Curl!" ordered Ethan.

"Sparce!" said Dunsparce, as it curled its body up into a ball, and Natu's Peck didn't seem to faze it much.

"All right," grinned Ethan. "Now use Rage attack, Dunsparce!"

"Dunsparce sparce!" hissed Dunsparce as its eyes took on a reddish glow. Its body unfurled itself, its wings started beating furiously, and before Natu could do anything, Dunsparce had rammed it hard.

"Hmm," Heather murmured. "This could get ugly... I know! Natu, Swift attack!"

"Tu tu tu tuuu!" chirped Natu loudly. It opened its beak, and a barrage of glowing white stars flew out of its mouth, pelting Dunsparce. Every star to hit the Normal-type served to intensify the red glow in its eyes.

"Heh," laughed Ethan. "Every hit just makes Dunsparce that much more powerful! Go, Dunsparce, hit it with Rage once again!"

"Now! Confuse Ray, Natu!" commanded Heather.

Natu stared right at the oncoming Dunsparce, a multicolored ray of light emanating from each of its eyes. As this light shone on Dunsparce, its flight started to become erratic, and it started smashing into the ground.

"What?! Dunsparce! Snap out of it!" yelled Ethan.

"This isn't good," Maggie remarked. "Those boosts to its attack power from Rage will only work against Dunsparce if it keeps hurting itself!"

"Yeah, they should just call the match already, let me get on with mine," scoffed Grey. "Beginner's luck only takes one so far."

"Rrrrgh," Ethan grunted in exasperation. "C'mon, Dunsparce, I know you got this!" he pleaded.

In response to this, Dunsparce paused in the process of slammng its head into the battlefield. Ethan held his breath for a moment... and Dunsparce shook its head, as though to clear it. "Sparce Dunsparce!" it exclaimed, no longer confused.

"Yes!" Ethan exclaimed. "We're not out of this yet! Now, Dunsparce! Bite!"

"Spaaaarce!" Dunsparce bellowed, flapping towards Natu once more, this time with its mouth agape.

"Tuuuu!" shrieked Natu as Dunsparce chomped down on one of its wings. Frantically, Natu tried to shake it off, but it wasn't working.

"Whoa, that Bite looks pretty powerful," Maggie remarked. "I didn't think Normal moves were particularly good against any type."

"You're just as big an idiot as Ethan is," snapped Grey. "Bite's a Dark-type move."

"Dark-type?" repeated Maggie. "Never heard of it."

"Never heard of-" spluttered Grey. "What, have you been living under a rock for the past month? It's all over the news about how they discovered two new types! The Dark-type and the Steel-type! Sheesh!"

At that moment, Natu abandoned the attempt to shake Dunsparce off, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Sweet!" Ethan cheered. "We did it, Dunsparce! We won!"

"Natu, return," sighed Heather, holding out the Poké Ball. "You were great out there," she murmured. Then, she walked across the battlefield, and handed Ethan a flat, shiny metal object, decorated and painted to resemble a fluffy white cloud. "Here," she said. "The official Pokémon League Sky Badge. You've earned it."

"All right," grinned Ethan. "A Sky Badge! And- what's this?" he added, for Heather was also handing him a green-grey disc.

"You've never seen a Technical Machine before? Idiot," said Grey.

"Shut up," snapped Ethan.

"Yes, this is a Technical Machine, or TM for short," nodded Heather. "It teaches Curse. Use it wisely- it works very differently if a Ghost-type uses it."

"Alright, now it's my turn," Grey stated, stepping forward. "And amateur hour is over, you're about to see some real skill in action."

"Very well," said Heather, as she stepped back over to her side of the battlefield. "Please, though, allow me to heal my team," she added, placing her Poké Balls on the healing machine stationed next to her. A few seconds later, she placed one ball back on her belt, and threw the other one. "Now, let's go! Hoothoot! In the sky!" she exclaimed.

The ball burst open, and Hoothoot materialized once more. "Hooothooot!" it hooted menacingly.

"Pfft," scoffed Grey, as she held up a Poké Ball. "You call that menacing?"

"Nobody called it menacing, you know," Ethan pointed out. "It was just implied by the tone."

"Shut up," snapped Grey. "Little habit I picked up from my brother, is all. Alright, time to show this overblown owl who the true terror of the night is," she added, turning back to face the Hoothoot and throwing the Poké Ball. "Zubat! Go!" she yelled, as the Bat Pokémon materialized in a flash of light.

"Hoothoot, Tackle attack!" ordered Heather.

"Zubat, Supersonic!" commanded Grey.

Hoothoot flapped its stubby wings at high speeds, zooming forward in midair, only for the flying to become erratic as a volley of high-pitched sound waves flew forth from Zubat's mouth.

"Nice," smirked Grey. "Now use Quick Attack!"

"Bat! Bat! Bat!" chattered Zubat- now it was the one flying at high speeds, striking the disoriented Hoothoot at multiple angles.

"Hoothoot, use Peck attack!" said Heather. She was looking somewhat desperate by now- repeated blows from Quick Attack were clearly doing a number on Hoothoot.

"Don't give it a chance!" ordered Grey. "Zubat, use Gust!"

"Zubatbatbatbatbatbat!" came Zubat's response, its wing flapping becoming much faster. As Hoothoot endeavored to fly in a straight line towards Zubat, an increasingly powerful gust of wind kept it at bay. At last, Hoothoot could fight it no longer, and allowed the wind to plow it into the ground. Hooting feebly, it attempted to stand up.

"Finish it off!" Grey yelled. "Leech Life attack!"

Zubat seemed only too glad to oblige- it swooped down on the struggling Hoothoot and sank its fangs into it. Hoothoot winced, but as Zubat sucked its blood, Hoothoot could feel its strength slipping away. Finally, the Normal/Flying-type collapsed to the ground.

"Wow," Maggie remarked, sounding highly impressed. "Zubat didn't even take any damage."

"You expected anything different?" said Grey as Heather withdrew Hoothoot.

"Hoothoot usually manages to get in a hit or two, at the very least," said Heather. "But now let's see how well Zubat does at a disadvantage! Natu! In the sky!" she exclaimed, throwing a second Poké Ball, unleashing the Tiny Bird Pokémon back out into the open.

"We'll handle this one just as well, Zubat," grinned Grey. "Supersonic!"

"Natu, Teleport!" ordered Heather.

Zubat fired off another barrage of sound waves, but this time they missed their mark completely, for Natu was suddenly high in the air, directly above Zubat- and falling fast!

"Zubat, it's above you!" yelled Grey. "Quick Attack!"

"We'll use Quick Attack as well!" smirked Heather.

Natu and Zubat zoomed towards each other, the former further propelled by gravity. They collided almost instantly, both competitors falling towards the ground.

"Natu, now use Swift!" commanded Heather.

"Bite it!" shouted Grey.

Zubat flapped its wings, twisted around, and made to sink its fangs into Natu, but only took a mouthful of star-shaped rays of energy. The Swift knocked Zubat out of the sky, and as it hit the ground, it looked like it would have trouble getting up.

"Get up, Zubat!" said Grey.

"Natu, finish it off!" called Heather. "Use Peck!"

"Tuuuuuuuu!" trilled Natu as it continued to fall. Zubat attempted to get back into the air, but Natu was moving too fast- the Peck attack connected, and this put a stop to Zubat's efforts to get back up.

"Gaaaah!" yelled Grey as she withdrew Zubat. "OK, I'm through messing around," she growled as she threw another Poké Ball. "Tentacool! Destroy it!"

In a flash of light, Grey's Tentacool appeared, standing as usual on its two tentacles. "Tentacoool," it said in its nasally voice.

"Natu, use Curse attack," said Heather. Natu nodded in response to this, its body taking on a reddish aura.

"Tentacool, Supersonic!" ordered Grey.

"Tentacool, Tentacool, Tentacool," chanted Tentacool, sound waves visibly emanating from its larger ruby-like protrusions. Almost immediately, Natu's eyes became unfocused, and it started stumbling around.

"Natu's confused," Ethan remarked.

"Well, no freaking duh!" snapped Grey. "You know, Ethan, those who point out the obvious only do so because that's all they're observant enough to notice. Tentacool, BubbleBeam now!"

"Cool cool cool!" exclaimed Tentacool as it fired off a forceful barrage of bubbles from the tips of both tentacles.

"Teleport, Natu!" Heather called.

"Tuuu... Natu..." Natu mumbled. Though it did disappear and reappear, it was clearly not in the position Heather had wanted it to be in- Natu had only teleported itself even closer to the oncoming bubbles.

"Heh. Confused Pokémon are so stupid," cackled Grey as the bubbles pelted Natu's body. "Alright, Tentacool- Poison Sting now!"

"Natu, quick, use Swift!" Heather ordered.

"Uh-oh," Maggie remarked. "Swift never misses its target. It won't matter that Natu's confused."

"Guess again," smirked Grey. Indeed, the stars that were being fired out of Natu's beak were making u-turns in midair and flying right back at their source.

"What?" said Ethan, confused.

"I knew it," scoffed Grey. "True though it is that Swift never misses its target, what matters is what the user considers to be its target. Natu, in its confusion, thought itself was the target. It hurt itself in its confusion!"

Tentacool, meanwhile, was adding on to the damage Natu had already taken by firing off glowing purple needles. The spines struck Natu, causing it to cry out in pain and try to bat them away with its stubby wings. This, however, appeared to have the added effect of snapping it out of its confusion.

"Natu, use your Quick Attack!" said Heather.

"Tentacool, BubbleBeam!" ordered Grey.

Natu hopped forward, gaining speed with each hop, and while Tentacool launched its barrage of bubbles, Natu started to hop on top of the bubbles, jumping from bubble to bubble.

"What?!" demanded Grey.

"You didn't really think Natu was bad on its feet when it's not confused, did you?" smiled Heather.

"Oh, that's good," Ethan commented.

"Rrrrgh... Tentacool, stop BubbleBeam!" Grey shouted.

Tentacool did as ordered, and without the constant stream of bubbles to hop on, Natu found itself suddenly meeting the ground face-first.

"Now's your chance! BubbleBeam, maximum power!" exclaimed Grey.

"Natu! Teleport away now!" Heather cried.

However, Tentacool's attack proved to be the faster, for Natu's body was rapidly pelted with swiftly soaring bubbles.

"Ha haaa," cackled Grey. "I knew it. That Curse was your downfall, Heather- It raises Natu's Attack and Defense, but also lowers its Speed. Any move not named Quick Attack takes a lot longer to get going for it."

"No! Natu!" exclaimed Heather, but once Tentacool stopped BubbleBeam, it became evident that Natu had fainted.

"Huh," Ethan said. "I guess she does know a thing or two about Pokémon."

"You sound surprised," Grey snapped as she withdrew Tentacool. "I don't think I like how surprised you sound at the idea that I know things."

"Yeah, well, I don't think I like-" began Ethan.

"OK, stop, stop," Maggie interrupted. "Please? Can the both of you just stop? You both won your first badge, this is no time for you to be arguing, OK?"

"Fine," grumbled Ethan as Heather handed Grey a Sky Badge and a TM for Curse. "Hey, Grey," he added as Grey walked back over to them. "I... guess you... did... OK... out there."

"Don't strain yourself," Grey replied. "I know not being an idiot doesn't come easy to you."

"Come on, I'm trying to be nice here," Ethan frowned. "The least you could do is meet me halfway here."

"No, I think the least I could do is stop you before that tiny little Sunkern turd you call a brain snaps under the strain," she retorted. Ethan opened his mouth to angrily reply to this, when suddenly the Gym's doors flew open. The trio simultaneously wheeled around to see who was there, and once they did, they facepalmed simultaneously.

"Oh, no..." groaned Ethan.

"Hm? Now, who are you?" Heather asked.

"Why did she have to ask?" hissed Grey.

"Heh. Thought you'd never ask," the newcomer replied. He turned his hat backwards, cleared his throat, and spoke up in what he clearly thought was a grand and impressive voice;

"Defeating all trainers across the nation,  
The shorts-wearing boy with the Pokémon sensation!  
My skills will leave you in awe and despair,  
No matter how well you think you will fare!  
When battling moi, your defeat is quite certain,  
Once my trusted partner starts to dish out the hurtin'!  
When your team is knocked out, my work is complete,  
I am the great trainer Joey, now prepare for defeat!"

"Rrrrrrattata!" added the Normal-type who took that moment to escape its Poké Ball which hung around its trainer's neck, and take its position on Joey's shoulder.

"...So, your name is Joey?" Heather asked.

"You want I should do the motto again-"

"NO!" exclaimed Ethan, Grey, and Maggie simultaneously. This caught Joey's attention, and he laughed as he looked at them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the trio of losers from yesterday," he smirked.

"Yeah, you still think I'm a loser? Check this out!" Ethan declared, holding up his Sky Badge. Grey did the same thing with hers.

"Hmm, then this Gym should be a piece of cake," Joey chuckled. "And what about you, ginger? I don't see you showing me any badge."

"You want to see a badge?" replied Maggie, as she held up a red-orange piece of metal made to look like a flame. "Here, see this? This is an official Pokémon League Inferno Badge. You know how you earn one of these? By defeating me- Maggie McPixel, the Bincanar Island Gym Leader!"

"Wait, what?" Ethan said, his eyes wide with surprise. "You're a Gym Leader?"

"Did I not mention that?" asked Maggie.

"Not really, no," Grey replied.

"Excuse me," Heather said, catching Joey's attention once more- now she looked angry. "You think this gym is easy? I assure you, you are mistaken. You've come to challenge me, I assume?"

"You assume correctly," Joey replied. "How many Pokémon will you be using? I'll only be using my Rattata."

"Well, in that case, I'll only use one-" began Heather.

"No, no, go all out," Joey encouraged her. "You'll need the help. You're not dealing with your average Rattata here. My Rattata is in the top percentage of Rattata, see?"

"If you insist," nodded Heather. "Very well, it'll be my two Pokémon against your so-called top-percentage Rattata."

"Oh, this I gotta see," smirked Grey.

"For once in your life, I'm with you," added Ethan.

In response, Grey smacked him in the head. "Idiot," she stated, though her eyes were glued to the battlefield, eager to see Heather put Joey and his Rattata in their place.


End file.
